Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Rumpf and Myhre
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits application of State aid growth limit on certain school districts in 2025-2026 school year.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning State school aid for the 2025-2026 school year.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, in the case of a school district that experienced a net decrease in its State school aid allocation between the 2017-2018 school year and the 2024-2025 school year, the Commissioner of Education shall not apply any State aid growth limit to increases in State school aid whereby a school district’s uncapped State school aid for the 2025-2026 school year, as calculated for the district pursuant to the State school aid notice distributed to the district in February 2025, is reduced.
b. As used in this section,
“State school aid allocation” means the amount of equalization aid, special education categorical aid, security categorical aid, transportation aid, adjustment aid, and vocational expansion stabilization aid received by a school district in any given year; and
“Uncapped State school aid” means the amount of equalization aid, special education categorical aid, security categorical aid, and transportation aid as calculated for a school district prior to the application of any State aid growth limit.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and apply to State school aid provided in the 2025-2026 school year.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits the application of any State aid growth limit to the amount of uncapped fiscal year (FY) 2026 State school aid calculated for a school district that experienced a net decrease in actual State school aid between the 2017-2018 and 2024-2025 school years.
Under the FY 2026 State aid notices, the Department of Education calculated the amount of uncapped equalization aid, special education categorical aid, security aid, and transportation aid for which a school district would be eligible in the 2025-2026 school year. The department then determined that no school district would be eligible for an increase in the sum of these aid categories of greater than six percent when compared to the amount of State school aid the district received in these aid categories, plus any adjustment aid the district may have received, in the 2024-2025 school year. If the increase in the district’s FY 2026 uncapped State school aid total in these categories is greater than six percent, the department reduced the sum of the district’s State aid entitlement in these categories through the application of a State aid growth limit so that the increase is no greater than six percent.
This bill prohibits the Commissioner of Education from applying any State aid growth limit to increases in a school district’s uncapped State school aid for the 2025-2026 school year if the school district experienced a net decrease in the amount of State school aid received between the 2017-2018 school year and the 2024-2025 school year.